Just Another Overachiever
by pinkaffinity
Summary: [COMPLETE!] [haynette] Hayner had already swept through three tutors, and it was only October. Maybe number four was different.
1. brief meeting

She seems…like the rest.

He had seen her around school occasionally. He didn't really know her all too well. What was her name, again? Heck, she looked so familiar. O-something… Olivia? It was right on the tip of his tongue... Odessa? No. It didn't fit. Well, whoever she was, she was his fourth tutor since his junior year of high school began. Or rather, potential tutor. But he was pretty positive that she would be the next.

Hayner sat low in the uncomfortable office chair, his back nearly parallel to the seat and his legs stretched out in front of him. What's-her-face had just sat opposite of him and his parents. God, how he hated this…this _process_. It was getting pretty old after three obviously failed attempts. Some overachieving snob would introduce himself, or herself in this case, to his parents. They would instantly love the snob, and look down upon Hayner even more. While treating him as lower than his or her godly self, his ever-so-accomplished tutor would try and help Hayner study for a week, maybe two, tops, before they got so frustrated that they quit. Then the next snob would come and try to tame Hayner, the terror (so he had been dubbed by his three ex-tutors).

She was number four, and it was only October.

"Hi, I'm Olette. Olette Brooks," she said with a grin firmly pasted on her face and hand extended.

Ah, that's it. Olette.

"Hayner," he said, returning the handshake politely. And that's about all he said that entire meeting. His parents greeted themselves with superiority as "Mr. and Mrs. Michaels" and droned on to Olette about Hayner's lack of concentration, motivation, intelligence…the list really did go on and on for them. Olette appeared only semi- interested, with the occasional nod and "yeah". She rarely contributed anything of substance to the conversation until his parents began questioning her.

Hayner noticed that as she responded to their drilling inquiries, Olette had the nervous habit of flipping her wavy, chestnut hair over her shoulders. Now_ that_ was annoying.

"Clubs? Well, I'm the secretary of the Spanish club, treasurer of our class, head of prom committee, vice president of student council, and I'm in chess club, book club, yearbook, and track," she listed proudly, counting off her achievements with her fingers.

Yeah, just another overachiever.

His parents seemed satisfied enough with what's-her-fa, uh, Olette's, résumé, after that seemingly endless list of activities. More than satisfied, actually. They were infatuated with her; her top-notch grades only improved their opinion of her. His parents simultaneously stood up and happily walked Olette to the door, confirming times and fees. Hayner didn't even bother to get up; he remained slumped down in his chair, staring at the ceiling tiles.

"It was really nice to meet you, Hayner," her voice broke his intense fixation on the tiles. He jolted up out of his trance and stumbled out of his chair toward the door.

"Um, yeah, nice to meet you," he said as he wiped his strangely sweaty hand onto his camouflaged cargos, extending it to her. Wait, was this his new tutor? Treating him…_nicely_? She took his hand in hers daintily and gave it a firm shake.

"See ya tomorrow?" she asked, her lips curling into a smile.

"Yeah. Tomorrow."

His mom shut the door after Olette. "She seems…good," she muttered to his father, "What do you think, Hayner?"

"Eh," he replied with a tilt of his head as he bounded up the stairs. Hayner ran into his bedroom and watched Olette walk to her car.

Maybe number four was different.

Maybe.

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**author's notes: Yay. A Haynette. Why Hayner and Olette, you might ask? The real question is why _not_ Hayner and Olette. I plan on making this a short chaptered fic, not too long, but I had too many ideas about this to make it a one-shot like I would have liked. And I'm ever so sorry that this chappy was so short. The next ones will be longer, hopefully. So, please, please review. I wanna see if I should take the time to make it long, or if I should just stop. And you can criticize me if you want, too. Have a super day! **

**disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own it. **


	2. first aid

"So what was this one like?"

"I dunno... okay, I guess."

"Just like the other three?"

"Kinda…she kept doing this really annoying thing with her hair," Hayner said softly as he stared out his window into the midnight sky, remembering his brief encounter with Olette, "but at the same time, not really…she was nice, polite, I guess…but… still…know what I mean, Rox?"

"No," Roxas answered bluntly. "But, I guess I'll just have to meet her. I won't get too attached, though," he said laughing.

"I wonder how long it takes before she can't tolerate me?" Hayner chuckled at the thought of Olette running away from him, screaming of course.

"Three weeks, tops," Roxas answered.

"Ha, yeah…alright, well, don't forget we're skatin' after school tomorrow,"

"Could I ever forget skateboarding _lessons_, Hayner? Could I?"

"Don't be a smartass, Roxas. See ya tomorrow," Hayner replied to his best friend before dropping the phone back in its cradle. He walked to his bed and climbed under the warm covers, anticipating his next skateboarding lesson from Roxas.

Hayner tossed and turned, wrapping the blankets around his body, attempting to fall asleep in that one perfect position. Sleep finally claimed him, and the last person that had entered his mind was…her, with her soft lips curving up and smiling gently at him just as when they had exchanged their goodbyes.

----------

Y'know, she really _could_ be different than the rest…but… he wasn't gonna get his hopes up.

----------

Hayner barely stirred when his alarm began blaring that awful beeping noise into his ears. An arm emerged from underneath the giant mass of blankets and whipped itself onto the ever-handy snooze button. Ahhh…peace.

"Hayner!! I heard that! Get your butt out of bed, _now_!!! I cannot believe you!" Hayner rolled out of bed sleepily, barely conscious that he was dressing himself. He was definitely awake, but his mother kept on going. "You know how many times I have told you to just wake up when your alarm goes off instead of pre-"

"_Fine!_" Hayner bellowed out his door, attempting to cut off his mother's incessant screeches. "Goddamn," he muttered to himself, "Can't she calm down, maybe, _once_? Oh wait, of course not; that would be _rational_!" He hastily pulled on his shoes and leapt down the stairs, smoothing his hair back into his classic hairstyle all the while. He left without breakfast, or a goodbye, for that matter, and slammed the door behind him.

Honestly, he did not care a bit about not saying goodbye to his mom. She paid little attention to him anyway, except when he was doing something wrong. If he ever did something right, her back would be ignorantly turned the other way, like she _wanted_ her only son to be a bother, a misfortune, an _accident_. And speaking of not paying attention, his father probably saw Hayner for maybe ten, fifteen minutes… in a three-day span. And these fifteen minutes rarely, _rarely_, encompassed anything along the lines of an actual conversation. Heaven forbid a father speak with his son. At least his mom noticed he existed, even if it was only when he faltered. If they didn't care, why the hell should he?

Hayner had arrived at Roxas' house and waited out on the front porch for his best friend to walk to school with him. Yeah, Hayner had to walk to school. Like his parents would ever trust him with a car. Roxas took the courtesy to say goodbye to his kind, loving, perfect parents as he walked out his front door.

"Aw, gonna miss your mommy when you're at school?" Hayner teased in a mock-baby voice.

"Oh, shove it. We need to hurry up or else we'll be late!" The two boys hustled to school where Hayner wasted another perfectly good day, sitting in classrooms, talking to people he didn't like, and learning about absolutely nothing. Oh wait, he wasn't really learning. Hayner pretty much spent class time sleeping, with the occasional hand-raise followed by a dumb question- just so his teachers _thought_ he was paying attention. Oh, how they were wrong.

After many long, drawn-out hours of basically nothing, the school bell finally rang, dismissing the weary students. Hayner gathered his homework, or at least, what he was pretty sure was homework, and left to go find Roxas. He found him leaning against the brick exterior of their ever-so-cleverly named school, Twilight Academy. The education board _could_ have thought of something a little more creative, but no, they called it Twilight Academy.

"Hey!" Hayner exclaimed to Roxas as he ran down the steps to greet him.

"Yo," Roxas replied smoothly, maintaining his rather well known reputation. Most of the student body was pretty intimidated by Roxas, surprisingly. He could be he best, most loyal friend that anyone ever had (that Hayner was fortunate enough _to_ have), but the majority, no, scratch that, _all_ of the school saw him as cold, cruel, blunt, un-talkative, unpleasant, heartless…get the point?

"Let's get going, mkay? I really think I can do the ramp today!"

"Yeah, whatever you say, Hayner," Roxas taunted.

"Hey! I can!" Hayner yelled confidently. Roxas laughed at the contorted expression present on Hayner's face as he screamed at him. "I cannot believe you would say that! You even said last time that I was getting better!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"You better be! Let's get outta here!" Hayner slung his backpack over his shoulder and began the short walk to Roxas' house. Most people skateboarded at Twilight Town's local skate park, but Roxas made Hayner practice in his driveway. He wasn't going to let Hayner be thoroughly embarrassed in front of a huge crowd of people. Well, not yet anyway.

When the two arrived at his house, Roxas dug through the huge pile of sports equipment in his garage, retrieved a worn, old-looking skateboard, and handed it to a disgusted Hayner. "This is the board I used when I landed my first 360 off the hill in the market, don't worry, it's for good luck," Roxas assured.

"How do you remember that?" Hayner inquired, mystified at Roxas' excellent memory.

"Who knows," Roxas answered, a grin forming on his face. "Here, help me pull out the ramp." The two uncovered Roxas small, hand-made ramp through the junk heaped carelessly on top. Yes, hand-made. That's just how much he loved skateboarding. They pulled it to the middle of his cement driveway, and Roxas immediately jumped on his own skateboard and began performing a variety of tricks off the ramp.

Roxas plus a skateboard equaled amazing. Hayner always thought it was so bizarre that Roxas could glide through the air effortlessly. It was almost as if Roxas belonged in the air rather than his own two feet.

"Okay, show-off, time to teach," Hayner said with a smile.

"Alright, I _guess_," Roxas replied jokingly, "Let's see…where to start? Ah! The first thing you need to do is pick up enough speed to actually get in the air. When you get to the ramp, steady yourself and do not turn, no matter what you do. Right before you hit the top, shift your weight to your back leg, and let'er fly!"

"Um, okay," Hayner muttered hesitantly. God, this might be a bit harder than it looks.

"So, just try to get in the air for now."

Hayner walked to the end of the driveway and hopped onto the wobbly skateboard. He pushed himself to the ramp, picking up substantial speed…or so he thought. When he got near to top, Hayner slowed, stopped, and rolled backward, defeated.

"Try again, little bit faster," Roxas encouraged, ignoring the fact that Hayner was obviously not pleased with himself. Hayner did as he was told and tried again, this time succeeding in getting up in the air.

"Wow…" Hayner mouthed as he rolled toward the end of the driveway for another go. This was why Roxas loved it so much. The feeling of weightlessness, the sunshine smiling on him, his hair blowing gently in the wind. It was terrific. "I'm going again!" Hayner yelled to Roxas. He followed the same steps, picked up speed, steadied his body; but right before he reached the top, a back wheel on Roxas' trusty, without-fail, good-luck skateboard popped off the axle. Hayner was sent flying off the ramp and forward through the air. Thankfully, he caught himself by landing halfway on his right shoulder, halfway on his opposing hand. Hayner cringed as the rough concrete peeled away the flesh on his palm, leaving an unexposed, raw layer of skin.

"Hey, you okay?" Roxas yelled as he ran toward Hayner's writhing body.

"That…hurt," murmured Hayner, trying his hardest to retain whatever pride he had left. He sat up and looked at his throbbing hand. Droplets of blood were just beginning to form on the surface. Well, he wasn't going to try the ramp again for a while. "Thanks for the crappy skateboard, Rox"

"Hey, sorry bud…d'ya wanna go inside or something?" Roxas replied in an unnaturally gentle tone, hand extended

"Nah. I think… I'll just go home," Hayner grabbed Roxas' hand and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"Alright, well… see ya." Roxas gave Hayner a pat on the back and proceeded to push the ramp back toward the garage.

Hayner wiped the dirt off his pants with his clean hand and trudged on home, wishing that maybe this time his mom would give him a bit of sympathy. He wasn't expecting any genuine pity, but he could hope.

He opened the front door slowly and walked into his front hall. "Mom?" he called. The sound bounced across the tiled floors, seeking an answer. No answer. "Mom?" he repeated as he walked toward the kitchen. As he entered, _she_ was sitting in the barstool by the counter.

No, not his mom.

Olette.

"Where have you _been_?" she asked, almost menacingly.

"Wha…where have _I_ been?" he repeated with a bewildered look on his face.

"Yes."

"Wait, what are _you_ doing in _my_ house?" he interrogated Olette suspiciously.

"I was _supposed_ to come over here. Your parents and I agreed upon the time yesterday, weren't you listening? Now, where were you? I've been waiting here for nearly forty-five minutes." Olette said sharply, nodding her head toward the clock on the wall. Sure enough, it was a little past four.

Hayner stood at the entrance to his kitchen, staring at his tutor, who was practically a stranger to him, who was sitting in his kitchen. Alone. "How the hell did you get in my _house_?" Hayner's patience was running slim. His shoulder was aching painfully and the strange, burning feeling in his hand was only getting worse.

Olette dug through her purse and retrieved a set of keys, complete with a keychain that looked like some sea-salt ice cream. She flipped through the collection as she walked toward him and grabbed a large, bronzed key, waving it in front of his stunned face. "House key?" she said with a roll of her eyes, as if it were completely obvious that it was okay for a total stranger to be in Hayner's house alone.

Hayner looked at her like she was utterly insane. "I cannot believe you broke into my house," he whispered confusedly.

"I had a key," defended Olette, moving closer to him.

"So? Nobody was home!" Hayner's voice was nearing angry-raging-shouting-match loud.

"Well, that wasn't _my_ fault. I came to tutor you. I wasn't expecting an empty house!" Now Olette had definitely gone past angry-raging-shouting-match level. Right in his face.

Awkward.

The two remained inches away from each other for a few seconds, staring angrily into each other's eyes. Olette finally backed away and returned to her seat and asked with as much politeness that she could muster, "So, where were you?"

"Roxas'." Hayner retorted.

"Roxas? Roxas Cameron? As in the really mean and weird Roxas?" The words spilled out of her mouth.

"He's my friend. He's not mean. He's not weird," Hayner said through gritted teeth.

"Oh," she said quietly, "Sorry."

Hayner sighed loudly. "It's okay…" He clambered onto the stool next to her and slammed his backpack onto the counter. "Well, let's get started."

"Okay…well, um," Olette hesitated, unsure of how to start. She was top in the class, but she had never tutored anyone before. Her mom had recommended it to her for some extra munny, and Hayner was her first…pupil, she supposed. "Y-your mom told me you were really struggling with chemistry, so we could start with that. Then we can work on some literature and maybe gramm- Hayner!"

"W-what?" he asked tentatively.

Eyes widening, she said slowly, "Your shoulder, it's…all scraped up! What did you d- Oh God, your hand! It's bleeding! It's even worse!"

"Fell," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Fell! I should call your mom!" she exclaimed worriedly.

"No…it's okay, she wouldn't care…" Hayner whispered softly, pain evident in his hazel eyes.

Olette looked at him sympathetically and paused before saying gently, "It's going to get infected! Here, lemme go find something to wash it with." Before Hayner could respond, Olette had already leapt out of her seat and bounded toward the bathroom. Well, Hayner was sure of one thing:

She was definitely different.

Olette returned carrying a wet, soapy rag, gauze, and bandages. "Okay, I just need you to sit still for little bit; it might hurt a little…" she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling his bloody palm toward her. The instant the rag touched his wound, Hayner screamed and yanked his hand from her grasp.

"Hey!" Hayner yelled.

"Hayner, look at me!" she said motherly, tilting his head so his gaze was directed toward her. "It's going to hurt like hell, but it'll hurt so much worse if you don't let me clean it." Hayner was now sure of a second thing:

Her eyes were the prettiest color of green he had ever seen.

"Okay…" he said, almost childishly.

She grabbed his wrist more gently and cleaned his palm as best she could. Every once in a while, she could feel his body twitch from the pain, but he didn't say a thing. He was too lost in her shimmering emerald orbs.

She wrapped his hand in the soft gauze and bandages, taking care to not inflict pain if she didn't have to. "Okay," she said with a sigh, "Finished. Let's get back to work now. So, chemistry?" Hayner reached into his backpack and pulled out his chemistry book. "So, let's work on balancing equations, that's what your teacher said you were having trouble with…Hayner?" Hayner was sitting completely still, eyes fixed upon his closed textbook. "Hayner?"

"Thank you," he said almost inaudibly.

A blush crept across her cheeks, "Oh. No problem," she said, smiling. She reached behind her neck and flipped her hair over her shoulders, hoping to hide the redness of her face. "So…let's balance some equations."

Hayner looked over and grinned, "Sure."

-----------

Well, he could get his hopes up _a little_…

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**author's notes: To be continued! Ba-ba-bum! Just to let everyone know, I have never skateboarded in my life. So I kinda made up that part. Hope you all like this chappy, I tried to make it fairly long to make up for the last chapter. Well, reviews are GREATLY appreciated. Feel free to point out super obvious errors, that'd be nice.**

**disclaimer: KH does not belong to me!**


	3. short nap

**author's notes: I just wanna give a big thanks to all the people who've reviewed. I really appreciate it and hope you all like this chapter! And, sorry it took me so long to update…I'm a big ole slacker.**

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"Wow, Hayner. All that gauze on your hand makes you look pretty tough," Roxas said sarcastically and looked over at Hayner with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, shut up. It wouldn't be throbbing with pain right now if _you_ had given me a decent skateboard," he said jokingly and punched Roxas gently in the arm. The two friends were walking down the hallway to their next class as Hayner recapped the previous evening.

"So, I see Olencia is quite the doctor," Roxas laughed.

"Olette," corrected Hayner.

"Eh, whatever... Y'know, I need to meet this girl. You're going to have some really funny stories with this one, and I need a face to put her with."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's in this class, actually. She sits in the front, next to that Pence kid," Hayner said as he opened the door to the History room.

And true enough to his word, there they were.

Pence was leaning in toward Olette and moving his hands energetically, "…and he was all about that sea salt ice cream, I swear. He refused to drop it, and once he finished his first, he went for that second one right away."

"Wow, it's hard to believe that some people have never tasted it before," Olette said with astonishment. "Hey, that's him," she whispered to Pence, averting her eyes to the door.

"The one in the camouflage?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah."

Hayner and Roxas walked into the classroom and passed the front desks to the back, "That's her," he murmured to Roxas.

Roxas was about to respond when Pence jumped out of his seat and stood in the middle of the aisle. "Hayner, right?" he questioned.

Hayner tilted his head inquisitively, "Um, yeah?"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Pence!"

"I-I know who you are…" Hayner hesitated, unsure of exactly how to respond. Roxas just started laughing.

"Oh, I see," Pence said, glaring at Roxas. Roxas' smile dropped off his face as he returned the stare. Hayner glanced back and forth between the two, half-waiting for Roxas to beat the living daylights out of Pence, half-wishing that Roxas could learn to control his temper. Hayner looked at Olette, seeking an answer. Her eyes shone brightly when she nodded her head, apparently having reached a decision.

She broke the tension by grabbing Pence's wrist and quickly pulling him back to his seat. "Don't pick fights," she murmured under her breath.

"What? I didn't start it!" he exclaimed, pulling his wrist from her grasp and plopping down in his seat. Hayner was still standing there, dumbstruck. Olette smiled weakly and sat in her seat, ignoring Hayner by arranging her stack of books so that they lay perfectly on the corner of the desk.

"All right, then," commented Hayner as he and Roxas made their way to the set of desks in the back corner of the room. They sat down just as the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

"Today," the teacher began lecturing monotonously, "we will discuss the conquest of the Southern Islands in the late 19th century,"

"Oh God," Hayner mouthed to Roxas with a roll of his eyes. The sound of shuffling papers filled the room as the students opened their binders to take notes. Except Hayner, of course. "Wake me up when he's done, kay?" he said to Roxas before curling his arms around his head to sleep.

Hayner couldn't really say what his teacher had talked about. He had fallen asleep just after he started blabbing about some navy fleet getting bombed on the way to one of those stupid islands.

"Hayner!" A voice flew through his dreamless sleep. Instinctively, Hayner rolled his head so he faced the other direction. He lifted his hand and wiped a trail of drool off his cheek.

"HAYNER MICHAELS!" the voice screamed. Hayner jerked awake, blinking his eyes in surprise. "Good morning, Hayner," his instructor said, teeth gritted with anger.

"G'morning Mr. Wood!" Hayner said cheerily.

"Hayner, I am sick and tired of seeing you dead asleep in the back of my classroom. This is high school history, not naptime. You are moving to the front of the room," scoffed Mr. Wood.

"Yeah, right," Hayner retorted with a grin, but the smile quickly dropped off his face as his teacher grabbed his ear and yanked him out of his chair.

Ignoring Hayner's protests, Mr. Wood dragged him to the front of the room. Some of the students had been laughing, but now everybody was silent. "Who is going to move for Mr. Sleepyhead here?" he boomed to the class. His students' eyes were wide with fear, and many of them slid a bit lower in their chairs. Mr. Wood was normally a calm, laid-back kind of guy; they had never seen him this angry. "Pence!" he yelled.

"Y-yessir?" Pence stuttered.

"Move to the back."

"But, sir, I can't see all too well if I sit in the back," he muttered, eyes fixated on the floor.

"You heard me. To the back." Pence reluctantly grabbed his books and shuffled to the back, sitting in the empty seat adjacent to Roxas. "Sit down, Hayner," Mr. Wood said, freeing him of his grasp. Hayner rubbed his ear with his non-bandaged hand and sat in Pence's seat. "Olette?"

"Yes, Mr. Wood?" she responded immediately.

"Speak to me after class." He then returned to the chalkboard and continued drawing diagrams on the board.

Hayner stared ahead for a few seconds, attempting to comprehend the intricate battle formations on the board before he realized that he had left his books at the back of the room. He hated borrowing from people, but he wouldn't dare get out of his seat and ignite Mr. Wood's anger again. He slowly turned to Olette, preparing to ask if she could lend him some paper, at least. Without Hayner saying anything, Olette wordlessly pushed a piece of loose-leaf paper and a spare pen to Hayner. "Thanks," he said breathlessly, astonished that she knew what he was going to ask before he even opened his mouth.

"No problem," she replied under her breath. Hayner spent the rest of the period actually paying attention. Shocker indeed, but he wouldn't dare fall asleep again. Well, today, at least. When he thought about it, it was kind of nice sitting next to Olette. She took great notes, and her handwriting was easy to copy if Hayner ever missed something. Much easier to copy than Roxas' notes, that was for sure.

The period flew by, and the instant the bell rang, Hayner hurried to the back of the room, swimming through the sea of students headed toward the door. He scooped his books and hurried out the door. As he was leaving, he heard Mr. Wood and Olette talking softly.

"So, you're his new tutor?" Mr. Wood asked.

"Yeah," she replied, a tired tone lacing her voice.

"Well, that's what I thought. I expect you to keep an eye on him, make sure he pays attention."

"Of course," she said quickly.

"I don't want him sleeping in here again. I know he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he still needs to pay attention." Hayner, who had pressed himself against the wall outside the classroom, felt his jaw drop in anger.

"Oh," he heard Olette say tentatively, "Well, I think he has… potential." Hayner smirked at Olette's comment. Yeah, that's right. He wasn't that dumb.

"Well anyway, I'm going to hold you somewhat responsible for him. Good luck," Mr. Wood said, chuckling, "You're going to need it."

The conversation ended before Hayner had a chance to react. Olette walked out the door with her books clutched to her body and bumped into him. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry," she apologized instinctively, dropping her books as she reached out to see if he was okay.

Hayner bent down and gathered her books together. "It's okay," he said laughing.

Olette was crawling around on the floor, picking up her pens and pencils. "So…you were listening?"

"Oh…yeah," he said as he piled her books back into her arms.

"Sorry about what he said…about you, I mean… that's just rude."

"It's okay, really, I get that kind of crap all the time from my parents. I think…I think it's funny," he said with a sad smile.

The two stood there for a few seconds, soaking up the silence. Olette was the one who finally broke it, "Well, sorry… again…I'll see you after school, I guess." She turned down the hall and disappeared in the giant mass of students crowded around.

"Yeah, see ya," Hayner responded wistfully. He turned the other direction toward his locker, dragging his feet as he walked into the crowd. God, why did everyone think he was so stupid? Maybe he was _smart_; maybe he got bad grades because he just didn't care. Yeah, that's what it was. How could he care if everyone kept putting him down? Honestly, he was so _sick_ of everyone looking down on him and treating him lower than they were. They weren't any better than him. They just weren't.

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And so the school day passed, and Hayner remained in a horribly grumpy mood. Roxas had tried to talk to him at their lockers, laughing about the incident in History, but Hayner simply ignored him. As he walked home alone, he found that he regretted refusing to speak to Roxas. Roxas was the only person who he could talk to and was probably furious that Hayner ignored him all day.

God, life sucks.

Hayner unlocked his front door and stumbled into his house, dropping his heavy backpack in the foyer. He dragged himself to his living room and scrambled onto the couch, relishing the peace and quiet. This was definitely his favorite time of the day; he was by himself and neither one of his parents was home to _nag_ him about whatever was wrong with him that day. Hayner was busy curling himself into the sofa cushions when the doorbell rang.

Oh, yeah. _She _was coming.

He slowly parted from his precious couch and walked to the door, sliding his feet on the hardwood. Hayner opened the door, and Olette entered without even a hello.

"Sorry I'm late, just had to run home really fast and do some errands for my mom," she said quickly, the words jumbling together as she spoke. She sped into the kitchen and threw her backpack on the counter.

"Oh, it's okay," Hayner replied, "I was just napping on the couch."

"Didn't you sleep enough today?" she inquired, a trance of annoyance in her voice.

"Huh?"

"History?"

"Yeah… Apparently not," Hayner said, laughing at himself.

Olette, however, didn't find it as funny. She silently dug through her backpack and retrieved a weathered Algebra II book. "Well, I took this last year, but I think I can still teach you," she said, changing the subject completely. Hayner sat himself up on one of the barstools and began working on some practice problems that she had picked out for him. She sat quietly next to him, helping him work through the hard ones, until out of the blue, she said, "You were wrong."

Hayner shuffled through the pages in his textbook. "What? On number thirteen? But, I checked the back of the book and it says th-"

"I'm not talking about homework, I'm talking about your friend Roxas."

Confused, Hayner asked, "What about him?"

"You said he wasn't mean," accused Olette smugly, "but he was a total jerk to Pence today."

"Umm…okay, Pence was just being really weird. He introduced himself to me, even though I've known of him since third grade, I think." Olette glared at him. "So what?" he defended, "Roxas laughed, that's all. It was pretty funny, come to think of it."

"Maybe you two shouldn't be so mean, then people might not be so scared to talk to you," she muttered under her breath. Hayner opened his mouth, ready to shoot back an insult, but decided against it. She jiggled her pencil between her fingers impatiently, waiting for a response. Hayner turned back to his homework and started working out the next problem. The room was completely silent except for the steady scratching of his pencil against the paper.

Breaking the silence abruptly, Hayner replied gently, "I don't care if people don't like me or not."

Smirking, she said, "Oh, but you do, Hayn-"

"Do you _like_ getting into arguments with me?" he yelled, slamming his pencil on the counter. The pencil hit his book and rolled off, clinking on the tiled floor. Olette sat in her seat, trembling slightly. "Huh?" Hayner pressured her for an answer. She bent down, stretching her arm to the floor to retrieve the pencil.

"No," she murmured, placing the pencil in his hand. "It's just… some people have discouraged me from tutoring you, saying how awful you are, and I'm trying to prove them wrong_. I_ can see that you're not all that terrible, you just put up a wall that nobody can get through…"

Hayner shifted uncomfortably, "Who?"

"Oh, nobody in particular…but we need to get on these problems, I'm not getting paid to sit and chat," she said, changing the subject. Hayner wondered whom Olette was talking about, but he didn't want to get into yet another argument. They seemed to do that a lot. The two sat and studied together quietly for the remaining hour or so that Olette could stay, barely saying a word to each other.

When Hayner had finally finished his homework, Olette packed up her books and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Hey, you don't drive, do you?" she asked.

"Uh, no…like my parents would _ever_ let me have a car," he replied, locking his hands behind his head.

"Well, I could drive you over here after school, if you want," Olette offered, her eyes flickering into his.

"Wow, none of my other tutors ever offered a _ride_… are you… are you _hitting_ on me?" he joked as his fingers fiddled with his hair.

"You wish!" she exclaimed as she rummaged through her purse for her car keys. "Well, see you tomorrow!" Olette exited, and Hayner shut the door noiselessly behind her. He wondered if it would ever be possible for the two of them to not argue with each other.

Probably not.

Hayner entered the living room and collapsed on the couch, tired from all the homework. He curled himself into the form of the sofa and before he knew it, he was asleep again.

----------

"Hayner! Did you finish your homework?" a voice screamed into the room.

"_Yes_, mom," he said, annoyed from being woken up.

"Wow, surprise!" she leaned against the wall and chuckled a bit. God, he hated when she teased him like this. He rolled off the couch and bounded past her. "Supper's in an hour!" she yelled as he ran up the stairs. He raced into his room and slammed the door behind him. For once, he finished his homework, and she laughed at him?

Goddamn, he was never good enough, was he?

He flung himself on his bed, frustrated at his mom. Frustrated at Mr. Wood. He was frustrated at the whole world, more like it. Except Roxas. Hayner sighed loudly when he remembered how cold he had been to Roxas at school. Something else to add to his bad day.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Roxas' number, praying that he would answer. Hayner knew that he couldn't be mad at him for long, or so he hoped.

"Hi," Roxas answered the phone slightly out of breath.

"Hey, Rox," he said sullenly.

"What's up?"

"Uh…I just wanted to apologize for being a complete ass to you today," he murmured, hoping Roxas wouldn't be too mad.

"Oh, it's okay, I figured you were pissed off, so I decided to just leave you alone after a while," Roxas said, laughing.

"Ha, yeah, y'know it was kinda funny," he said as he thought back on the fiasco in History, "but God, sorry for making Pence sit next to you, I'm really sorry for that one."

"_Actually_," Roxas said, changing his tone, "that's what I wanted to tell you at school. Pence is pretty cool, surprisingly. He and I talked all through class."

"Are you…serious?" Hayner asked, bewildered that _Roxas Cameron_ said something nice about someone else.

"No joke."

"Aw, you've got a friend!" he said, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Shut up. You always said that I needed to get some more friends because _you_ were sick of me, right?"

"Ha, of course!"

"Well, he invited us to hang out with him and Olette this Saturday. So let's not be assholes, we should go," Roxas said. He always loved making fun of their unsociability. "Pence said something about 'the Usual Spot'? Whatever the hell that is."

"Sounds…uh…usual," Hayner replied, laughing, "Well, I gotta go, see you at school?"

"See ya."

-------------

The rest of the night, he couldn't stop thinking about this Usual Spot. No matter how much he beat himself up over it, Hayner was excited to see what Olette was like as a person, not his tutor.

Oh, those raging teen hormones.

-------------

**author's note: Wow. That is a hell of a lot of dialogue. I apologize, I'll try to not have so much next chapter. Also, I apologize for my lame American last names. They're stupid, but I'm not creative enough to think of interesting ones. XD Yeah, I didn't really like this chapter, but I don't feel like rewriting it. Sorry. It's somewhat essential…I guess. Gosh… I am just full of the apologies! _Anyway_, please review! I love reviews!**

**disclaimer: Sorry, don't own it!**


	4. awkward conversations

**author's note: Hello, my happy readers!! Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated. I'm lazy. And I have school. School just eats up time, especially if there is a ton of papers due, no? But spring break allows for much pondering, and therefore writing- yes, yes? So yeah, hope you like this chappie!**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah. I know I don't own it. You don't have to rub it in, mkay?**

----------------

Thank God it was Friday…

Hayner plowed his way through the crowded hallway, clutching his bag to his shoulder, bumping viciously against other students. "Hey! Olette!" he called above their heads, searching for his ride. He knew her locker was in the west hallway, but _where_ in this godforsaken hallway was another question. As he yelled her name, a few girls whipped around and glared at him. The icy stares were more than enough evidence of what was going through their heads at the moment.

_I can't believe he's talking to her. In public, no less._

_Why is she tutoring him, honestly?_

_Who does he think he is, yelling at her like that?_

Hayner rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Olette?" he yelled again, but the roar of the hallway overpowered him. He lifted his head up and stood on his tiptoes, hoping he could catch sight of her. A trace of orange flashed before him, just ahead, on the left side of the hallway. Finally. He inched across to the left and followed the wall to her locker, hand grazing against it lazily.

Hayner saw Olette just a few lockers in front of him, busy fishing for her books. "Ole-" He almost called her name again, but he stopped abruptly when he saw her talking to him.

Yes, _him_. The popular boy in school. The jock. The hot-shot. The one that the girls just swoon over. The one that wears that ridiculously short shirt, just to show off his abs.

That's right- Seifer.

He was leaning against the lockers, arms crossed in front of him. "So, how are things _going_, Olette?" he drawled. A smirk.

Olette thrust a book into the backpack leaning against her legs. "Fine," she snapped.

"So, how's tutoring? Just like I said it would be? Awful? Horrible? Does he make you want to kill yourself?"

Hayner stood a few feet away, listening intently. The crowd around him still concealed his presence, but he was close enough to eavesdrop on their every word. "It's fine, Seifer," he heard her say, seeming intent on keeping this conversation a short one.

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again, doll," Seifer said, throwing his head back in a confident chuckle, "That kid is no good. I've known him for a few years- we played blitzball together in junior high- and he is awful. I don't think I've ever known someone quite like him. It's almost like he doesn't care about other people's feelings. Plus, he doesn't talk to normal people."

Hayner's nails dug into palm. Oh, so he doesn't care about people? He doesn't talk to normal people? What?! _Maybe_ he never talked to Seifer because he didn't like him. _Maybe_ he didn't like him because he had been a show-off and hogged all the glory. _Maybe_ Seifer was the one who used to be mean to him, whenever he scored instead of throwing the ball to Seifer.

Olette was standing perfectly still now, face pointed to her locker. She was fingering the cool metal lock, pretending to be searching for more books, it seemed. But Hayner could tell that she was listening.

"And all that time you're wasting with him," Seifer cooed, placing a strong hand on her shoulder, "studying, or more like trying to pound information into his thick skull," he leaned in to her ear and whispered, "you could be spending with me."

All right, time to break up this party.

"Olette!" Hayner called, stepping forward as if he hadn't heard a thing.

"Well, speak of the devil," Seifer muttered under his breath.

"I've been looking for you," Hayner continued, ignoring Seifer's presence. "Still got that ride for me?"

Olette opened her mouth, but Seifer cut her off before she had the chance, "_What?!_ Olette, please don't tell me that you're giving him _rides_ now." Hayner looked at Olette, expecting her to snap back.

"It's just a ride," she responded casually, but she was looking down at her feet.

"Just remember what I told you," Seifer retorted. With a swift pivot and a ripple of his jacket, he had turned and already started walking away. The crowd had diminished considerably by now, so the angry footsteps resounded through the hall loudly.

Hayner was taken aback. In the week or so since they'd met, he never would've taken Olette as being _casual_. If anything, she was extremely _defensive_. Olette heaved her yellow backpack onto her shoulder. "Let's go," she said brusquely.

He obeyed without hesitation, without even asking a "_What the hell was that?"_ He definitely was not feeling up for a fight with Olette right now. They exited the building and walked across the grassy campus to the student parking lot. The trees created a light canopy, blocking the sun as Olette strode ahead; Hayner just tagged behind like a lost puppy. They reached her car shortly- a cute, blue coupe. Olette unlocked the car and got in the driver's side, chucking her bag to the backseat. It bounced on the weathering tan seats quite ungracefully, and it seemed like that was not a habit of hers. Hayner slid into the passenger's side, but kept his backpack near his feet.

The engine grumbled as Olette started the car and reversed. Her face had a listless look to it- like she was deep in thought- as she shifted gears and drove out of the parking lot. Stoplight. Great. This was getting more and more awkward by the second. Olette tapped her fingers on the leathered steering wheel impatiently, staring at the passing cars.

"So, how do you know Seifer?" she asked with a tilt of the head, breaking the uncomfortable silence with an even more uncomfortable question.

Green light. "Well, he told you the gist of it," Hayner said with a smirk.

"Wh-what? Wait, you… were listening?" her voice dropped to a softer tone; the shock carved into her features.

"Oh, yeah," Hayner said, leaning his head against the window while he closed his eyes; the sun was glaring into them. He continued, "So, Seifer is the one who doesn't want you to tutor me?" Right turn. "I'll have you know. I didn't talk to him when we blitzed because he was a freaking show-off."

"Well," she responded quietly, "he is very athletic."

Hayner shifted in his seat, facing her. The seatbelt cut into his collarbone, but he didn't particularly care. "Olette. Please do not tell me that you are one of those girls who just melt into a… a puddle whenever he walks past!" he exclaimed with a slight twirl of his fingers.

No answer. Stop sign. Left turn.

"You are, aren't you?!" he cried.

"Well, I think it's safer to say that I _was_ one of those melting girls."

"Huh?" he responded immediately.

"He and I dated freshman year," she admitted quickly, "And he's never left me alone since."

"Are you…j-_joking_?" Hayner stuttered, unable to believe that yes, the jock and the overachiever dated.

"Nope," she mumbled while parking the car in Hayner's driveway, "It's something I regret- so just don't bring it up."

"How… how could _you_ like _him_?" Hayner asked, still in shock. He opened the car door and swung his legs out, taking his bag with him.

"Didn't I _just_ say- _not_ to talk about it?" she snapped as she slammed her door shut. The car clicked softly as it locked and the two walked up the sidewalk to the front door. The autumn leaves hung over them, and a few cascaded down in the October breeze.

"Do you _still_ like him?"

"_Drop it_," she seethed through clenched teeth, her fist wrapped tightly around her car keys.

Hayner threw his hands up in a mock surrender. "Okay, okay!" He shuffled through his backpack until he found a house key, and proceeded to unlock the front door.

"Hayner!" that all-too familiar voice screamed down the stairs. Hayner groaned and dropped his bag on the tiled floor.

"What?" he yelled back. His mom, completely ignoring Olette, burst into sight at the top of the stairs. Her honey-brown eyes narrowed as she stomped down the stomps. "Oh, not again," Olette could barely hear Hayner whisper.

"Hayner, I got a call from your teacher. He told me that you fell asleep in class yesterday! Your father and I are trying our hardest to help you get good grades, and how do you thank us? By sleeping! Honestly!" she bellowed, her voice jumping a little every time her foot pounded on an unfortunate step.

"Sorry!" he replied hastily, hands lifted in surrender, "It was an accident!"

"Hayner," she sighed, toning her voice down at the sight of Olette, "I don't want to be hearing about this again, okay? You need to try a little bit harder. Okay, sweetie?"

"Yes, mom," he grumbled. His mother smiled, her light brown curls bouncing on her shoulders. After a quick "Nice to see you, Olette", she said something about how she had to go to the store. Olette barely had time to respond with an abrupt "You too, Mrs. Michaels", before his mother slammed the door behind her.

"I cannot believe her," he muttered under his breath, not really caring if Olette could hear him or not. Hayner ambled slowly into the kitchen, not caring to pick up his bag from off the floor. "Hayner?" Olette began tentatively as she took the courtesy of dragging his backpack along with her to the kitchen, "Are you okay?"

Hayner had already hopped into one of the barstools by the kitchen counter and was slumped down. He didn't even look over as he mumbled, "Yeah…"

"Sure?" she asked, more persistently.

Hayner turned to face her, a grin obviously pasted onto his face. "Yeah, of course!" he assured, "It's just my mom, throwing a little fit."

"Oh… okay," she replied tentatively, the concerned look still etched into her features. They started working on some Economics homework (supply and demand graphs, specifically), and few words were exchanged between them. Occasionally Olette would help with a "no, this one should curve up- not that one", but Hayner was mostly speechless.

After an hour or so of studying in this smothering silence, Olette finally piped up, "Hayner, you seem really quiet today. Are you sure nothing's wrong?" No response. "Because I just want you to know that I don't agree with Seifer… about what he said…"

Hayner buried his face into his hands, his two forefingers vigorously massaging his temples. His head was pounding. "It's not just about him," he breathed.

"But then, wh-"

"Olette," he cut her off and turned to face her, the barstool squeaking as he did, "it's okay, really."

"Bu-"

"Shouldn't you be heading home now? It's almost five…" Hayner jabbed his pen toward the clock. Sure enough, it was 4:52.

"No, I can stay and work with you some more if you want," she offered.

"No," he declined, getting out of his chair and walking toward the front hall, "It's Friday. You should go… hang out with your friends or whatever. Not waste it with me."

"Um, okay then. I don't have plans for tonight, so I can stay longer, honestly," she said while she gathered her books into a neat pile.

"No, just go," he sighed wistfully.

"A-all right, then," she stammered as she hitched her bag over her shoulder and dug through her purse for her keys simultaneously. She walked briskly to the front door and wrapped her hand around the bronzed handle. "See you tomorrow, right?"

"Oh, yeah... tomorrow…" he murmured, remembering that Roxas had told Pence they would spend the day with them.

"Oh, Hayner?" she began as she opened the door, "Please don't take Seifer seriously."

And then she left before he could say another word.

God.

Did _everyone_ think he was stupid? He'd grown up with sniggering comments trailing behind him wherever he went. Whether it was a "wow, I can't believe he said that" or a "he's not the brightest crayon in the box", he had heard them all. From his parents, from his teachers, from random students he didn't know. And Seifer. Seifer probably was the one who had spread the comments through the school.

He stormed up the stairs, shoes pressing into the carpet. He wondered what Seifer had told Olette before he stumbled upon their conversation after school. Did she think he was stupid, too? Well, she had defended him that one time… but today, she… hadn't.

He slammed his bedroom door behind him and, and as he fell upon his bed, the mattress bounced happily underneath the weight. He wasn't stupid. He wasn't. Why should he live up to high expectations? Everyone's were so low of him, anyway.

But Olette seemed to have hopes for him, right? Great. He had just treated her like crap, too. Nice way to repay her kindness.

Goddamn. Life sucks.

Hayner took his pillow- the one with the stain from that time he got a bloody nose in the middle of the night- and pressed it to his face.

And he screamed.

----------------

**author's notes: So, yes. I didn't really like this chapter that much, but hey- I finally got it up. Just more angsty Hayner… lmao. And it kinda sounds like Hayner's trying to kill himself at the end there… -points at last sentence- …but he's just screaming. I scream in my pillows when I'm pissed- so there.**

**So I'm pretty proud of myself- I finally know how this story is going to end, I'm not just making it up as I go. I have every chapter planned! Woot. Snaps for me. So, please review if you want me to hustle on the next one! **


	5. darts, anyone?

**author's note: Just wanna say thanks to all mah readers and reviewers! I **_**really **_**appreciate it**

**disclaimer: No. **

----------------

It had been extremely difficult for Hayner to fall asleep the night before. The day's events just kept flowing through his mind, and he was _drowning_ in them. He knew people thought that he was stupid, and he hadn't really cared that much up until now. Did that many people really dislike him?

And if so, why was he caring so much?

Hayner had tossed and turned, and the more he thought about the afternoon before, the more he felt bad. He had been a tad unfair to Olette. She had always been nice to him, if anything. But then again- she _had_ sided with Seifer… in a way… Well, she probably still liked him. They had _apparently_ gone out freshman year. That's why she stuck up for him. And she had known Hayner for what- a week? She had every right to side with Seifer…

So why was he so bothered by it?

Had Olette made that much of an influence on him already?

----------------

Hayner groggily woke up the next morning, grouchy and unrefreshed. He rolled over to check the time, the cotton sheets conforming to his movements. 10:26. Wow. Pretty late. He sat up and instantly became dizzy from a head rush. His hand reached for his cell phone on the end table. He missed a few times, whacking his fingers against the wood, but he finally felt the cool metal under his grasp. Eyes still caked with sleep, his finger held the two button on his phone until he connected with Roxas.

"Hey, Hayner!"

"You sound… cheery. I don't like it," Hayner noted bluntly.

Roxas laughed unnaturally. "Yeah, yeah," Roxas said and then dropped his tone to a low growl, "Hold on." And then Hayner heard the muffling of Roxas' phone in some type of fabric. Maybe his jacket?

"Hayner?" Roxas asked a few seconds later.

"What's wrong?" Hayner questioned, a somewhat concerned (like he would ever admit that) tone covering his voice.

"Oh, nothing _extremely_ serious. It's just…that…" he trailed off.

"What?" Hayner pushed.

"Well, I'm at the 'Usual Spot' with Pence and Olette. It's a pretty sweet place, but there is nothing to do. Absolutely nothing. And I feel bad, cause they're being really nice, but I'm just not used to hanging out with people, _and_ I'm bored out of my mind!" Roxas exclaimed in a single breath.

Hayner chuckled, "All right, all right. I'll see what I can do. You gotta remember, Rox- the party only begins when _I_ get there." He waited for a laugh on the other line, but Roxas had already hung up the phone.

Well, he had an idea of what they could do.

-----------------

The town thrived under the orangey-pink sky of the eleven o'clock sun. Sure, it was technically still morning. But the sky was always painted with vivid colors, despite the hour.

Hayner passed through the main part of town with a large bag hung over his shoulder, sipping bitter coffee from a styrofoam cup. The hot liquid coursed through his body and shook him from his sleepy state. He smiled at the accessory shop owner. Yeah, that coffee was making him feel pretty damn chipper.

He walked up the street market hill- that's where Roxas had said it was. Didn't he? Hayner looked down one alley, and a young girl was running after a carrier pigeon. _Okay_, not that way. He kept walking up the hill, passing more shops. Hayner faintly heard his name called over the bustle of the city.

"Roxas?" he called back. At the top of the hill, he saw the rustle of a dark maroon fabric. A spiky blond head poked out.

"Hayner! Up here!" he shouted.

Hayner downed the last of his coffee and threw the empty cup in a nearby trashcan. He drew the bag closer to his body and trekked up the rest of the hill. Well, he had been up and down the street market plenty of times before, but Hayner had never seen this place. With one arm, he brushed away the dark, tattered drapes and entered.

He first saw Roxas leaning against a wall. He first gave Hayner a look of 'see-what-I-mean?' but then gave a small smile that screamed 'thanks-for-coming-so-fast-I'm-not-used-to-new-people'. Olette and Pence were sitting next to each other on a couch, smiling happily at him. But on second look he saw that the walls were empty, furniture was scarce, and it was quite dark.

Okay, definitely _not_ what he expected.

"Hey, Hayner!" Pence greeted.

"…Hey," he said half-heartedly, still lost in his thoughts. Well, he could see what Roxas was talking about. "How did you guys _find_ this place?" Hayner asked incredulously.

Olette popped up from her spot on the couch. "Well, Pence and I found it when we were…" she paused and looked over at Pence, "ten? Maybe?"

"Yeah," Pence continued, "My older sister had been shopping andwas_ supposed_ to be watching us. But we got away, and found this! We rarely come by anymore. It's definitely not as cool now as it was when we were ten… there isn't much to do anymore." He looked around blankly, emphasizing the lack of… _stuff_.

Olette's head tilted to the side. "Hayner, what's that?" She pointed to the bag.

"Yeah, Hayner," Roxas chimed in from his spot on the wall, "What's that?"

Hayner smiled. "This, my friends," he began, putting on one of those movie-announcer voices, "is my old dartboard."

"Sweet," Roxas said with a clever wink.

Hayner wrenched the dartboard out of the oversized bag and nailed it up to the previously bare wall. After much adjusting and frustrated sighs, he got it exactly where he wanted it. "Now," he began, wiping his face with his forearm, "this place can actually be considered a hangout."

"Excellent," Pence mumbled as he flopped down onto the weathered couch. Dust soared up as he sank into the aging cushions, but he seemed to take no heed. Keeping this place clean apparently was not on the top of their to-do lists.

"Yeah, it looks really good," Olette said, wringing her hands behind her back in awe. Just a few minutes ago, the walls were blank, in exception to the battered sheets pinned up in a pitiful decoration attempt. "I've never played darts before… can one of you teach me?" she asked, spreading her hands out to the boys.

"Don't ask me!" Pence exclaimed with a vigorous shake of his head.

"I'm a _master_ at darts!" Hayner cried as he stepped forward, pressing his index finger into his chest, "_I'll_ teach _you_, for once!"

"Master?_ Excuse_ me?" Roxas teased. Hayner scowled but Roxas continued, making Olette giggle, "Olette, please don't be inflating his ego any bigger than it already is."

Hayner's jaw dropped as he looked over at Roxas. "Hey!" he shouted. Roxas smirked, and Olette just kept laughing.

"Guys…" she managed to sputter between giggles, "No… fighting!"

"_Well_," Hayner said as he pushed Roxas out of the way, "It's all about the wrist." He picked up a dart and twirled it between his fingers. With one eye closed, he fired the dart into the board.

Bull's-eye, of course.

"Fine, Hayner, you're the master," Roxas admitted with a roll of his eyes.

"I know," he bragged, "So, Olette- why don't you just try throwing one?"

"Um… alright," she said hesitantly. She picked up a dart from Hayner's hand and gripped it in her own. Her other hand was clenched down at her side. She lifted the dart to eyelevel and flung it in front of her. It punctured the wall a good foot and a half from the board.

Yes, a _foot_ and a _half_.

"Crap," Olette mumbled under her breath. Pence started laughing and was bent over with his hands grabbing his sides. It wasn't long before Roxas joined in the laughter. "Hey!" she yelled, "I'm a beginner, okay?!"

"Olette, it's fine," Hayner chuckled. He went and plucked the dart from the wall and walked back. "Here, lemme help." He placed the dart in her hand and closed it with his fingers. She turned and looked at him, smiling. He had forgotten just how beautiful a color of green her eyes were.

They were like shining emeralds.

Hayner shook his head, trying to ignore the fact that his heart was attempting to pound out of his chest. God, first he couldn't go to sleep last night, and now he was going to have a heart attack. Was_ Olette_ doing this to him?

"Okay," he began, throwing off his thoughts, "You need to get a good flick with your wrist… get some spin on it…" He led her hand back and forth as he counted down and told her to release. It wasn't a bull's-eye, but at least it landed on the board.

"Are you _joking_?!" a deep voice came from the entrance. The four turned to see whose voice it was, and to their surprise, Seifer was leaning against the doorway.

"What?" Pence was the first to speak.

"Olette, doll," Seifer drawled as he stumbled into the room with Rai and Fuu in tow, "First, you tutor this kid. And _now_- now you're playing _darts_ with him?"

"Losers," Fuu chimed in.

"If anything, you should be hanging with us, y'know?" Rai pressured.

"Exactly! You should come hang out with us, Olette!"

"N-no thanks," she stuttered meekly. Hayner had stepped in front of her protectively.

"So wait, are you saying you'd rather hang out with _him_ than _me_?" Seifer approached her.

"Leave her alone!" Hayner cried. Crap. The words had just slipped out.

"Hey!" Rai exclaimed, stepping forward next to Seifer, "You don't talk to Seifer like that, y'know!"

"Don't," Fuu said as she walked and stood on Seifer's other side.

Hayner's fists clamped at his sides. The blood pounded through his veins. Why was he getting so angry? "Leave her alone!" he repeated through clenched teeth. Seifer smirked at crossed his arms across his chest. "If you don't leave right now…" he failed to threaten.

Why was he so intent on _defending_ her?

"Hayner…" he heard Olette whisper from behind him, "it's okay…"

Did she even _need_ defending?

"Seifer, it's okay," she said as she turned to Seifer. "Just stop it you two, alright?"

"Fine," Seifer said softly, but glared into Hayner's face. "If you ever want to talk to someone, I'm here," he said Olette, lowering the volume of his voice further. She looked down at her feet.

"Thanks," she replied timidly. Seifer gave a light smile and turned to leave.

Why did she _act _like that around him? And why did Seifer's mood change so _fast_?

"Catch you later, y'know?" Rai said loudly as he left as well.

"Much," Fuu muttered as she followed behind.

The four stood in silence for some time. Hayner threw himself onto the couch. After awhile, Roxas retrieved the darts and started practicing. Pence joined him after a few tosses. Olette was still looking down at her feet. Her shoes must be _really_ interesting.

Still silent. Hayner couldn't take it anymore.

"Why do you _act_ like that around him?" Hayner spoke sternly.

Olette was quiet for a moment before responding, "Like what?"

"Like you're so timid… and such!"

"Hayner," she began softly, "I understand why you don't like him, but he doesn't mean any harm… he's just-"

"Doesn't mean any harm?" Hayner's voice rose, and he ignored the blatant switch of subject, "He acts like I am dumb as a _rock_! How could he not mean any _harm_?"

Looks like that coffee that had made him so chipper before had worn off.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hayner could see that Roxas and Pence had stopped playing. But he didn't care- his patience was being torn to shreds. His blood was boiling underneath his skin. He couldn't help being angry right now- he'd had enough of people saying he was stupid all the time.

Still speaking gently, Olette whispered, "Hayner, I understand how you feel, but-"

"No!" he cried as he rose from the couch, "You do not understand how I _feel_. You don't have to live with your parents nagging on you all the time. You don't have everyone talking about you behind their backs!"

"Hayner…" she tried to interrupt.

"Olette, no!" Hayner couldn't stop himself. "You don't understand, because you are just like them. I know you think I'm stupid, too."

Olette shook her head angrily and started yelling herself, "No, I do not! I am not like everyone else," she stopped to draw breath, "Plus, you don't know anything _about_ me!"

"Olette!" he bellowed into her face. Hayner turned and saw Roxas' widened eyes and Pence's frightened expression. The words just rose up in his throat; he couldn't stop them.

"You are _just_ another _overachiever_!"

He turned and bolted out the doorway without a pause. He left so fast he didn't have time to hear Roxas scolding him under his breath for being immature. He left so fast he didn't feel the tension that he left in the room.

He left so fast he didn't have time to see the tears flooding out of those oh-so-pretty emerald gems.

---------------

**author's note: Hope y'all liked this chappie, and yes, I will say it again- ****please**** review! I want some **_**feedback**_**!! Good or bad, I don't really care. Just any would be **_**great**_**!! Have a great day**


	6. more arguments

**author's notes: Sorry if I left the last chapter at too much of a cliff-hanger. I didn't think it was, but **_**heeey**_**… that's why I made this into a chapter fic. So I can **_**have**_** cliffhangers. bwahahahaha!! I'm so cruel… anyway… enjoy!**

**disclaimer: Again, no.**

--------------

The October sunlight poured into his room. His eyes stung from the brightness, and he cringed as he rolled over, away from his window. Eww. He had a headache.

Sunday wasn't Hayner's favorite days. Because when he broke it down, it just meant that he had to go to school tomorrow. So, instead of seizing the last day of the weekend like any _normal_ teen, he was currently wasting away his morning by lying in his bed ignoring anybody and everybody.

He had gotten a call from Roxas last night around eleven, but he hadn't felt like talking to anyone. So he didn't answer.

His mom had yelled that he better get dressed and ready for church around ten, but he hadn't felt like talking to anyone. So he didn't get up.

He just felt like crap. And goddammit, he didn't feel like talking to anyone. He rolled over again, and his eyelids slowly opened, adjusting to the brightness of his room. Not being able to sleep anymore, he checked the time. It was past one. He supposed it was high time for him to get out of bed.

He whipped the blankets off his body, and enjoyed the breeze they created as they fluttered in the air. His fingers massaged his pounding temples when he sat up. Well, he didn't really have anything to do today. For some reason, his mind flicked to Olette.

He felt bad about yelling at her, but only just a little. Definitely not enough for him to apologize. Good Lord, the word described her perfectly. Overachiever. She should have a right to know who she is, even if she doesn't want to think that. All she thinks about is homework, homework, Seifer, _homework_...

He stood up. Maybe he'd study for Wednesday's chemistry test? But, his inner procrastinator protested, it _was _only Sunday. Well, he should get working now if he wanted to do any good. Truth be told, she was rubbing off on him. Just thinking of the pile of homework he had stashed in his backpack at the bottom of the stairs made him cringe. But then again, he didn't have anything better to do.

Still in his pajamas, Hayner threw open his door and flew down the stairs, reaching for his bag. Wow. Since when had he been enthusiastic? He had to keep repeating to himself that Olette must be secretly brainwashing him… or putting 'motivation' drugs in his cereal every morning… or…

He shrugged as he unzipped his backpack, giving up the argument with the slacker residing in a deep pocket of his brain.

All right, time to balance some equations.

--------------

"_Hayner…"_

There he was, sleeping through his first hour class again. Psychology. He really had been trying to pay attention. They were learning something… about… Really, he _had _tried. It's just that he couldn't get to sleep 'til three in the morning the night before, due to the fact that he had woken up so late. So he was running on a solid four and a half hours of sleep.

"_Hayner, wake up!"_

The voice was pressing through his unconscious. It sounded like Roxas.

"Goddamn, Hayner. Wake up!" It sounded a lot clearer now. His honey eyes shot open and were greeted by Roxas' anxious face. He jolted up from the desk, and smoothed his hair back into place. "You fell asleep again!" he scolded under his breath, "Thank God Mrs. Richard isn't circling the desks like a hawk… for once!"

Hayner chuckled lightly. "Thank God I'm so sly, no?"

"Oh, shove it," he retorted with a punch to Hayner's arm.

Just a few minutes after Hayner's waking, an annoying ring buzzed over the intercom, signaling the students' dismissal to their second hour class. In both Hayner and Roxas' case, history.

Hayner weaved through the hall to his locker, and then to the classroom where he met Roxas in front of the door.

"Good luck sitting next to Olette," Roxas mumbled with a false laugh.

"What?" Hayner was confused.

Roxas grabbed the door handle. "Dude, she was _bawling_ after you left on Saturday. I tried calling to tell you, but you never picked up."

"Are you joking?" Hayner said softly, bowing his head slightly in shame.

"No."

He walked in and looked at his table partner. She _looked_ fine. Olette was sitting with her back straight against the chair, looking forward at the chalkboard. Her books were neatly stacked and placed at the corner of the table, like always. She was _fine_.

He looked up at Roxas and saw him peering sympathetically at Olette. Weird. Next to Roxas, Pence was waving his hands frantically and mouthing the word 'apologize' over and over. Hayner turned to sit down and groaned in annoyance. He looked over and saw that Olette's eyes were fixated on Mr. Wood, preparing his lesson. She was fine. She was definitely fine. He didn't need to give an _apology_.

"Hey, Olette. Can I borrow a pen?" he asked, testing the waters. She wordlessly slid a pen across the table.

See, she was fine… all right, maybe she _wasn't_ fine. But she would get over it, right?

_Right?_

Olette didn't talk for the rest of the period. Despite the lack of her prodding, Hayner actually paid attention. For the most part. But he soon found his eyelids slipping closed. His face slid down the palm that it was resting upon.

Slowly but surely, his head dipped down until it fell out of his grasp. But as soon as it did, he shot awake. Crap. He needed to get some caffeine during break, or something. He shook his head some, trying to keep awake. He couldn't fall asleep again. At least, not in this class. He looked over to Olette's binder, looking to copy the notes he had missed while falling asleep. She usually was completely alert, and her notes were always perfect.

But right now she was slumped over in her chair, doodling tiny flowers in her margins. He leaned a bit closer to see what she had written down for notes.

There weren't any.

---------------

Pizza today. Hm. Not too bad.

Hayner and Roxas were waiting in the lunch line in silence, holding their molded plastic trays in impatience. Sometimes the lines went so slow. Hayner's eyes sifted through the cafeteria, and he saw Pence motioning to them with his hands, showing where they were seated. Usually, Roxas and Hayner sat by themselves- well, it was more like people didn't sit by _them_- but apparently, Pence _craved_ their presence as of late, and the two boys actually _liked_ hanging out with other people besides themselves. Why not?

His sight shifted to Olette. Her shoulders were still hunched over, just like they had been in History, and she was halfheartedly pinching off the crust of her sandwich.

"Hey," Hayner turned to Roxas, "Was she really crying? Are you sure she didn't just get some… dirt in her eye… or something?"

Roxas glanced at Pence's table and turned to face Hayner. "Yeah, she did… It was weird. I don't know what the deal was. Seifer's an ass, _that's_ obvious."

Hayner saw freshman girl behind Roxas lean forward at the mention of Seifer. Well, Hayner thought she had. She was keeping strict to the _stay at least three feet away from Roxas Cameron_ rule, so it might not mean she was trying to eavesdrop. It could be _bravery_.

"Definitely," he replied, switching his focus back to the conversation and moving a few feet in line.

"But I noticed she wasn't crying when Seifer was there, it was only when you were yelling at her."

"Yelling? I wasn't yelling!"

"You were _yelling_," he assured.

"Great," Hayner moaned, "Just great." The lunch lady slapped two slices of pizza on his tray. "Thanks," he mumbled.

After Roxas got his lunch, the two walked over to the table and sat down opposite of Pence and Olette. Pence grimaced at them and his eyes flicked to Olette. She was definitely _not_ fine. _Definitely_ not.

But Hayner couldn't bring himself to apologize. He tried to muster up some courage, but he couldn't. So he talked with Pence and Roxas about the World Blitzball Cup that was going to take place in Twilight Town in November. Olette just picked at her sandwich silently.

There were crumbs everywhere.

--------------

Hayner wasn't looking forward to the ride home. In fact, he was absolutely dreading it. He really wanted to apologize… but "Olette, I'm sorry" turned into "Olette, I'm… nervous about my chemistry test" or "Olette, I'm… out of pencil lead".

As he walked to her locker (which he knew the location of now, thank you very much), he saw that Seifer was leaning against the lockers, talking to Olette… _again_. Hayner groaned inwardly, but put on a smile. Maybe a smile would suffice for an apology?

Seifer's eyes jerked to meet Hayner's. However, he didn't start verbally tearing Hayner to pieces this time. Thank God. Instead, Hayner saw him give Olette a comforting smile, with a strange, sad look in his eyes. Seifer patted her on the shoulder and strutted off before Hayner could say anything.

Okay… weird. Seifer… being… nice? Was Hayner the only one who had kept his sanity over the weekend?

"What was that all about?" Hayner questioned a bit too harshly as he approached his tutor.

"Nothing." Not a very _descriptive_ answer. But hey, she said something to him.

Like on the previous Friday, the two trekked across the school grounds in silence. But this time, Olette wasn't going at her usual power-walk pace. She was moving very slowly, and her back was hunched over so much, it seemed like her heavy backpack was going to topple her over.

When they got to her car, Olette opened up the trunk for their backpacks. She placed hers in and got in on the driver's side. And when she did, she flipped her hair over her shoulders so that it covered her cheeks. That annoying habit again.

Hayner got in and braced himself for the painfully quiet ride. He couldn't decide which was worse: not talking to her at all, or having another argument with her. He couldn't decide.

He really hated when she yelled at him… So, argument was worse. Definitely.

But then again- the silence wasn't anywhere close to _good_. He liked talking to Olette, and it was really bothering him that she was so upset. He would have to apologize today. He had to.

Hayner bounced in his seat a little as the car slowly rolled up the driveway. Olette braked lazily and dragged herself out of the car. She retrieved her backpack and unlocked the front door without even waiting for Hayner like she had before.

"Ugh," Hayner groaned as he pulled his bag and slammed the trunk shut, "this day _sucks_!" He followed Olette inside his own house, and slid his backpack onto the kitchen counter, like he did every day. Olette was quietly serving herself a glass of water.

"Okay, let's get started," Hayner said in a horrible fake-cheery voice.

Olette didn't respond; she just pulled herself onto the barstool, like she did everyday, and rummaged through her bag for her books. She pulled out History, their only class that they had together. She sniffled slightly then murmured, "We outline the chapter… just follow my example."

A full, spoken sentence. _Nice._

Hayner opened his book and started outlining. Roman numerals first. _I. Background Information-_ Wait, were the letters supposed to go next, or was it the numbers… or was it the lowercase letters? He looked over at Olette's paper and saw more doodles. Hearts on this one. Oh, and capital letters went next. He would read a paragraph, then summarize. Paragraph, summarize.

He looked over at Olette again. She wasn't even writing anymore. Her fingers were tracing the side of her glass, collecting the condensation on the tip of her index finger. Something wasn't right.

Was it because he hadn't apologized? Crap. He needed to do that.

"Olette?"

The droplets of water soaked through her paper, smudging the ink together.

Sniffle. "Yeah?" Her chestnut hair still created a curtain between them.

"I'm… sorry," he nearly choked on the word. She took a sip from the glass, rather than acknowledging the apology. He continued nevertheless, "For Saturday? It was really rude of me to call you an overachiever. I… apologize."

She sighed loudly, "It's okay."

Wait- what? She forgave him? Just like that?

"But I mean, Seifer _was_ being a jackass," Hayner added with a laugh, glad he was back on Olette's good side, "So I still don't understand why you keep defending him…"

"You know, Hayner," she started gently, "Him making fun of you may not be the worst thing in the world."

"So you _agree_ with him?" His temper was starting to rise again.

"Hayner," she said more firmly, still refusing to make eye-contact, "I don't want to argue with you."

"But I'm _sick_ of everybody calling me stupid. I'm _not_!"

"Hayner, stop it…"

He couldn't help it. "But you think I'm stupid too, right? Is that why you are being so nice with Seifer? Or is it because you _like _him?"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed as she finally faced him. Her eyes were puffy and swollen, and her cheeks looked raw. Apparently she had been crying. A lot. Hayner looked at her in astonishment. "You are not the _only one_ who has _problems_ in their life, okay!" she bellowed.

"Olette…" Hayner mumbled, "I said I was sorry…"

She threw her books into her bag angrily. "I have to go…" But, she usually left at five!

"Olette, but I need to study chemistry." Shit, shit, shit. Everything always gets screwed up.

"Not tonight," She said with narrowed eyes and clenched teeth. "My mom needs me to go _home_."

Before he could stop her, she was out in her car, and the door was laughing in his face.

It wasn't even four.

--------------

**author's note: So yeah. This was kinda short. I think my chapters are getting worse. This one was pretty… blah. XD Well, I'm trying my hardest to finish this up. I really am. I'm shooting for nine chapters… (it's my favorite number!) Three more. Yay.**

**So, reviews are love. Getting them makes me write faster.**

**p.s.: I want to thank abbechan- you've reviewed so many chapters, and I can't reply! So, here's my thanks. I'm very glad you're enjoying this!**


	7. terrible news

"Olette, I'm really sorry…"

"It's fine."

It had been another painfully boring day at school, and Hayner was leaning against the locker next to hers, waiting for Olette to get all her stuff together so that they could leave, and pleading for forgiveness for yesterday. His backpack was slipping down his arm.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered sharply. She dropped the last of her homework into her bag and slung it onto her back.

"So," Hayner said cheerily, trying to break the tension that continued piling up whenever he was around her, "What's the _agenda_ for today?" Olette started the walk down the hall to the student parking lot, and Hayner followed like a little lost puppy.

"Oh. I forgot to tell you."

Hayner cocked his head to the side.

"I can't tutor today. Your mom knows, so payment's been settled… or lack thereof."

Hayner stopped in his tracks. "What? Why?"

"Well, when I don't tutor, I don't get paid," she said sarcastically.

Hayner groaned. "I mean why can't you help me _study_?"

Olette took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "I just can't." She was trying really hard to keep her temper under control. It had been flaring up _quite _a bit lately. "I'm really sorry."

"B-but," Hayner struggled to find his words as he jogged to catch up to her, "that _huge_ chem test is tomorrow! What am I going to do!?"

Olette kept walking at her insanely brisk pace. "You'll be _fine_," she assured.

"Can't I come over to your house or something? Would your parents let us study over there?" He seemed like he was begging.

Olette stopped and turned to face him. "Sorry, my mom probably wouldn't let us. Besides, I'm not going to be home tonight," she said lowly; it was almost a whisper. She smiled weakly, but the smile couldn't reach her eyes.

"I could stop by… late?" Hayner _needed_ her. He hated to say it, but he really did. She always got him on track. _Always._

"I'm really sorry, but _no_," she tried to pound the concept into his head. He was so _stubborn_.

"But…" he started again. Olette gave him a pleading look. He didn't know what was wrong, but Hayner was going to stop. "Okay then... I guess I could study with Roxas."

"That sounds great." Her smile looked more genuine now. Or… maybe she was getting better at faking it? "So, see you tomorrow? History?"

"Yeah." Like he and Roxas would _ever_ study together. Maybe practice skateboarding. Maybe play videogames. But study? _Hell _no.

Olette strode out the double doors of the exit in the blink of an eye, leaving Hayner on his own. He threw his head back in an overly dramatic sigh, readjusted his backpack, and started walking down the hall the opposite way to find Roxas.

---------------

Hayner saw him on the sidewalk with Pence, already on the walk home.

"_Roxas!_" he bellowed across the field, nearly tripping over his own feet as he ran toward them. "_Pence!_"

Pence was the first to turn around. "Hey, Hayner, what's up with you? Shouldn't you be with Olette?"

Hayner caught up to them, his breathing uneven. "She… can't tutor today."

"And so you think that _we'll _let _you_ walk home with us?" Roxas joked.

Hayner punched Roxas' arm. "Shut up."

And then the two best friends started talking with each other about the day's events: Roxas had successfully managed to have two sophomores run away from him, and Hayner had successfully managed to not fall asleep. Awesome day for the both of them.

But Pence lagged behind silently, dragging his feet as he attempted to keep up.

"Pence? What's wrong?" Roxas dropped out his conversation with Hayner.

Pence looked up slightly. "Oh, nothing," he lied.

"Hey," Hayner started, "I have never seen someone so quiet have absolutely _nothing_ wrong with them."

Pence shrugged.

"Spill," Roxas pressured.

"It's not about _me, _per se…" He was trying to tiptoe around the subject.

"Well, who's it about?" Hayner pushed. That trick wasn't going to work with Hayner _or _Roxas. The two of them together were really a pair of scheming demons; they really were.

Pence sighed. "Its about Olette."

"What about her?" Hayner questioned with a harsher tone. Was he getting… _possessive?_ No, he wouldn't be…

"Well, I promised her that I wouldn't tell anybody… Isn't this your house?" he asked Roxas, pointing at a plain house with white siding and green shutters.

"Yeah," Roxas sighed, not caring in the least that he wouldn't get to hear the juicy gossip. He exchanged goodbyes with Pence and Hayner and set off to his front door.

"Don't forget to tell your mom you _love_ her!" Hayner teased with his hands cupped around his mouth. Roxas shot a glare behind him, but went inside anyway.

Pence and Hayner kept walking along the sidewalk. "So, where's your house?" Pence asked, trying to make small talk and stray from the lingering subject of Olette.

"Just ahead. Next block," Hayner answered. They crept along in silence until Hayner pressured again, "I won't tell anyone, I promise." He just couldn't drop it.

Pence looked at him with a sad look upon his chubby face. He readjusted his headband and sighed. "Promise?"

"Promise!" he vowed.

"Well… I'm just worried about her, that's all." They crossed the road, dodging a kid riding his bike.

"How so?"

"She… well…" Pence struggled to get the words out. "I don't really know much about it." Hayner was quiet so he would continue.

"All I know is that her little sister, Amy, is really, _really_ sick. She was hospitalized over the weekend, I think... I can't remember what she has, though…" he trailed off.

Sick? _Hospitalized?_

"So, please don't tell anyone," Pence groaned, "I was the only one she actually _told_."

"Huh?" Hayner whispered.

"Seifer knows too. His little brother almost cut off his finger, Olette told me. So Seifer was with him in the ER, and saw her mom."

Hayner felt like he was being punched in the stomach.

Repeatedly.

"So don't tell anyone… yeah… I'll see you tomorrow, I guess." Pence waved as Hayner dragged himself up his front steps.

"Yeah, see ya," he mumbled incoherently and shut the door behind him.

Shit.

Shit.

_Shit._

So this is why Seifer had been nice to her, wasn't it? And why Olette had been so upset, why she couldn't tutor today, why she wouldn't be home today, why she yelled at him about him not being the only one having problems.

Hayner was a bit miffed about being called stupid all the time, and Olette's little sister was _dieing._

God, life sucks sometimes.

Hayner had already dropped his bag in the front hall like he usually did, and had stumbled over to the couch in his living room. He dropped onto it and tried to fall asleep, as if sleep could muffle the horrible, nauseous feeling in his stomach.

All he could see was her emerald eyes pleading with him, to let her go home, or probably to the hospital.

And despite his stomachache, one vaguely happy thought ran through his mind.

…Maybe she _doesn't_ like Seifer.

---------------

"_Hayner!_" his mother's calls woke him from his not-so-peaceful slumber. Wow, he had actually fallen asleep. "Dinner!" she called again.

Hayner rubbed his fists against his eyes, trying to wake himself up. He pushed the spare afghan off his legs (he didn't even remember putting it _on _himself) and stumbled into the kitchen. He was greeted with the happy scent of hamburgers.

His mom's curls were strewn about her face, and she looked upset. Oh yeah, his dad wasn't going to be home for dinner. Just like he usually wasn't six nights of the week. Maybe that's why she looked like that.

Hayner pulled out the chair from underneath the kitchen table and sank into it, his body still asleep from his nap. A hamburger was already on his plate, and he grabbed the bottle of ketchup from the center of the table and drenched his burger with the tangy condiment.

He nibbled on some potato chips. His mom was reading a book while eating. He could hear the clock tick with each passing second. But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't push the thoughts out of his mind.

Could he really have been so blind?

Sadly, yes. Yes, he could. And he was so awful to her, too. Especially giving her all that crap about Seifer all the time. He had probably just been consoling her, not making fun of _him_.

His head dropped down onto his placemat in an audible groan.

"Hayner?" his mom's attention flew to him.

"What?"

"Is something wrong?"

He wasn't supposed to tell anyone. He wasn't. He _promised_.

"Well, I have a big chemistry test tomorrow, and Olette couldn't come over to help me study," he sighed.

"Why don't you just run over to her house real fast? I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Yeah," he lied, "I'll do that." He dumped his unfinished meal in the trashcan, thanked his mom for cooking, and left the kitchen.

She wouldn't know if he didn't go to Olette's. But he needed to get out of _his_ house, at any rate. Make it more believable.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder and slammed the front door behind him.

-------------

The reception room was especially loud for seven thirty at night. Hayner entered with his head bowed, feeling rather unwelcome in the hospital. He couldn't believe he had _actually _come here. He inched toward the reception desk, unsure exactly how he would find Olette. Well, he could try.

He eyed the aging woman in front of him. She was stout with frizzy gray hair pulled back at the nape of her neck, and a nametag with the name 'Gladys' was pinned fiercely onto her blouse.

"Can I help you, dear?" she asked harshly, not taking her eyes away from her pudgy fingers typing away on the keyboard in front of her.

"Um… I'm looking for Amy Brookes? Her older sister's name is Olette…" he hesitated.

More typing and then "Amy Brookes?"

"Uh… yeah." He hoped that was her name… he couldn't really remember.

"Fourth floor. Room 473 in the west children's wing," she ended the short conversation abruptly, ready for the next person in her growing line.

Hayner was shocked that the information came so easily, but shrugged it off and entered the elevator with a nervous pain writhing through his stomach.

What was he going to _say_?

The elevator stopped on the third floor and a swarm of nurses entered. Hayner stepped aside, letting them in.

What was _Olette_ going to say?

The group bounced a little as the elevator stopped on the fourth floor. Hayner exited to the left as soon as the nurses stepped out of his way; he was getting a little claustrophobic in there.

Room 457. He could feel his breathing pick up. Room 465. What the hell had come over him? Room 471. Goddamn. The fluorescent lights overhead were _too_ bright.

Room 473.

The number was etched onto a plaque on the wall, and the door was being propped open by a doorstopper. Hayner tentatively, quietly, cautiously poked his head through the opening.

He first saw her sister. She looked very pale, almost translucent, as she slept on the overly white hospital bed, but she had the same gorgeous brown hair color that Olette did. An IV was slithering out from her arm.

And their mom was asleep as well, curled in a ball on an uncomfortable-looking armchair.

And then he saw _her_.

Olette was standing at the far end of the room, next to the window, with her back to Hayner. She was staring passively out into the dark, autumn sky with her hand pressed against the window. A foggy outline her hand was set upon the glass.

Hayner was still standing in the entryway. And he didn't know what else to do, except…

"I'm sorry, Olette," he blurted. She whipped around, and he could see that her eyes were puffy again from crying. Her chestnut locks flitted about the frame of her heart-shaped face. She looked absolutely shocked.

"H-Hayner…" she stuttered.

"I'm so, _so_ sorry!" he continued apologizing.

"Shh!" Olette urged with her index finger against her lips. She hurried to grab his wrist and pulled him out into the white hallway. "What're you _doing_ here?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Well, I… I dunno," he confessed. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I guess I came to apologize… I've been a real _ass_ to you lately."

Olette's lips curved up in a tiny smile and she wrung her hands behind her back.

"It's okay," she whispered. Hayner grinned, but wasn't sure what else to say. The two stood in an awkward silence for a while.

"Well, I guess I'll be going then," Hayner said with a shrug of his shoulders. Olette's eyes widened considerably.

"Well, since you're here, why don't we study?" Her voice was still _very_ shaky. She was trying _so_ hard to be strong. "I'll get my stuff," she said without waiting for a response. She returned with her excessively heavy backpack supported in the crook of her arm.

She started walking, Hayner didn't really know where, but he walked next to her anyway. Maybe someplace with tables? He saw a sign for a waiting room up at the end of the hall.

But then it happened too fast, nobody could react any differently.

He heard a slight moan come from Olette, so he turned to face her on instinct. Her backpack then quickly slipped off her arm and crashed against the clean linoleum floors. Her textbooks and binders slid across the tiles, and Olette sunk down to her knees.

Hayner propped his own bag against the wall and hustled to pick up all her scattered books. He piled them in his arms and bent down on his knees to give them to her. She looked up at him slowly with salty tears balancing on her eyelashes. Her hair slowly brushed its way out of her face.

The look in her eyes was _heartbreaking_.

"Olette…" he murmured softly. She threw her body into his, and her wails were barely muffled by his shoulder.

She couldn't pretend to be strong _forever_, now could she?

"Hayner…" he heard her mumble into his sleeve. Hesitantly, ever so carefully, he wrapped his arms around her sobbing figure. After a minute or so of crying, Olette pulled away from him. She wiped her eyes with her fingers.

"I… don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know what my _family_ is going to do. My mom has had to take on a second job to pay for medical expenses, and honestly, she hasn't been the same since my dad left us three years ago. I'm worried about her…"

Hayner's stomach dropped.

"That's why I started tutoring… for the most part," she confessed, "So I could help my mom out…" She sniffed. "And… and…" she struggled to speak between sobs. "I'm scared Amy might _die_. I'm so scared, Hayner…"

He was left speechless. So he just pulled her back into an embrace and stroked her hair gently.

She cried more, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thanks…" she whispered.

Hayner sighed as he rubbed her back, trying to be sympathetic, but still upset with himself.

His shirt felt wet from all her tears, his stomach felt nauseous again.

And that test looming nearer was definitely _not_ helping matters.

---------------

**author's notes: Woot. Now you all can see the plot trucking along. Make sense, now? I sure hope so. Wow. I got this chapter out a **_**hell**_** of a lot faster than I thought I would. I just started writing and never really stopped!**

**Reviews are love!**

**disclaimer: I don't know why I put this in every chapter. Whatever. Don't own it. Just the plotline. **


	8. hospital visit

_Tick._

_Tock._

_Tick._

_Tock._

Yes, Hayner was in the middle of his chemistry test, and _yes_, he was zoning out. The clock was just _so_ entrancing.

They had only started the test about fifteen minutes ago, but Hayner was finding it very hard to focus. After all, Olette _had_ had an intense breakdown the night before.

She had always seemed like _just another overachiever_ to him, but Hayner wasn't so sure that she could even be _classified _as an overachiever now. She was tackling more than she could handle, biting off more than she could chew- overachievers usually can accept everything on their plate.

Then again, Olette wasn't just stressed out about group projects and fundraisers and youth group- her sister was in the hospital dying; she had a pretty damn good excuse for breaking down like that.

He snapped back and worked through an equation and moved on to matching up elements with their abbreviation. He scribbled down a 'K' for potassium. 'Au' for gold.

He wondered if Olette had even come to school today; she wasn't in history. She had told him while they were studying in the empty waiting room of the children's wing that her sister was having surgery that day. He couldn't remember if it was during or after school.

He looked up at the clock. Only twenty minutes and he had over half the test to go.

Crap. He needed to stop thinking about Olette.

Think about chemistry. _Think._

But what if Olette was sitting by her sister's side, grasping her hand in a pitiful attempt at support? At being strong? Even now, Hayner could visualize the tears running down her cheeks at her sister's bedside. She just couldn't hold it all in by herself. Sure, Pence was there for an ear, and Seifer was there for a shoulder to lean on… but who was going to catch the tears that crashed to the ground?

Would _he?_

He glanced up at the clock and silently cursed the ten remaining minutes of the test. His hazel eyes flicked back to his test and slowly widened in shock.

He was almost _done_.

Hayner flipped through the pages, skimming his answers. Every blank was filled, every multiple-choice circled- his work was all there, and the answers _looked_ right.

He didn't know what happened; he hadn't been paying that much attention, but he had worked on his test anyway.

Guess he… _studied_ enough…

He answered the last multiple-choice question (it was C) and tossed his stapled test on his teacher's desk. He flew back to his seat and laid his head on the desk, waiting for the bell to signal the end of school.

--------------

He had walked home… again. Olette wasn't at her locker… again. He had gone and checked anyway, ever hopeful that she would come, but she didn't. So he, Roxas, and Pence trekked on to their respective homes.

When he got home, he saw that his mom's car was parked in the garage- she had apparently gotten off work early again.

He followed his normal (Olette-free) routine- he collapsed on the couch and flipped on the television. His feet hung limply off the edge, bouncing up and down.

"Where's Olette?" his mother's voice flooded his ears. She didn't sound angry.

"Not here," Hayner moaned sarcastically and pulled the square sofa pillow over his face.

"No tutoring?" she continued to question.

"…Nope."

"Why?"

"She… can't." He wasn't supposed to tell.

"_Why_?"

"She's… at the hospital." Not a lie, but not telling everything. Good maneuver, Hayner.

But that wasn't the _best_ thing to say.

"What?!" His mom was starting to freak out. She rushed forward, hands raised above her head, eyes wide. "What _happened?"_

Hayner just tilted his head to the side.

"Tell me!" she shrieked. Hayner sat up and his weight fell back to his arms. He sighed, unwilling to tell, but full knowing that his mother was going to weasel it out of him despite his best efforts.

"Fine," he groaned. "She's at the hospital because her _sister_ is… dying... Who am I to beg Olette to leave her side just for a few hours of homework? It's _okay_ that she's not here." He stood abruptly and plodded to the bottom of the stairs. His shoes pounded mercilessly into the carpet of the steps.

His mother's expression softened, and her lips curled into a smirk.

"You really _like_ her, don't you?"

He stopped. His hand tightened on the railing. He could feel his fingers rubbing against the stained wood, taking in what she had said.

Did he… _really?_ Sure, he was jealous of Seifer. But then… he couldn't stop thinking about her; he was worried all day. Adding the fact that she was so _pretty_… he… he…

"Yeah…" he admitted shamelessly, "yeah, I do."

He had been changed so much in such a short period of time; it was all for the better. And Olette was the one to thank.

And what was _he _doing? Sitting at home, doing absolutely _nothing_!

He teetered on the bottom step, hand still clutched against the rail.

"Well, _go _already," his mom teased.

Hayner snapped out of his trance with a shake of his head and released his grasp. He looked at his mom, and for the first time in a _long_ time, she was smiling. Her curls hung about her cheeks, and a grin shone brightly.

He didn't even think to take anything. He fled the house with an echoing "g'bye" and sprinted down the steps of his front porch. His feet beat on the ground, shoes slapping against the cement as he rushed to the hospital.

-----------------

The white hallway seemed very familiar as Hayner sped through the children's wing. He passed the rooms, faint flashes of daylight poured onto the tile. It seemed a much happier place when sunshine lit the hallway.

He saw the plaque with the engraved '473' and peeked inside, hoping that Olette was in there.

And she was.

She was curled up in the armchair, her knees lifted to her chest, eyes lazily skimming the pages of some teen romance book. Her sister was sleeping, and her mom was nowhere to be found.

"Olette?" he said a _bit_ too loudly.

Her emerald eyes lifted from the novel to greet him. A tiny smile spread across her face, and she lifted an index finger to her grinning lips, shushing him. She patted the chair next to hers, signaling for him to come sit down.

He obeyed and slumped down in the chair. The green leather-like substance wasn't enough cushioning from the uncomfortable springs pushing against him, but he didn't care.

"Hey," she whispered. Her voice didn't waver, and she said it while smiling. _Much_ improved from yesterday.

"Hey," he repeated, taking note to speak softly. "Why weren't you at school?"

She tilted her head. "Amy had surgery… I thought I told you?"

"But shouldn't your mom have been here, so you could go to school?" he asked.

"My mom had to work… she's still working, actually… so yeah, I was just here by myself."

The gentle beeps from the monitor were the only shield from the silence trying to enter the room. Olette went back to reading her book, propping it up with her knees.

"She was here at first," she tried to explain, "but she had to leave… and I don't know when she is going to be back…"

Hayner couldn't help but feeling a twinge of pity. She had to miss school because her mom was working so hard that she couldn't be here.

And then he did the first thing that came to mind.

His hand rose and fell, resting atop hers, giving it a reaffirming squeeze.

"I'll stay," he murmured.

He heard Olette gasp and looked over to see a pink tint flushing her cheeks.

"Th-thanks…" she stuttered.

----------------

The two spent the rest of the evening talking (in very hushed tones; they had to be quiet), and surprisingly, laughing. Olette grinned as Hayner told her stories of Roxas and him as kids. She nearly exploded with giggles when he retold the time that he and Roxas thought that Roxas' pet dog was a werewolf, positively bent on turning _them_ into werewolves. He laughed because she laughed, and soon that's all they could do _was_ laugh.

But before long, the laughter died down and the two fell asleep in those oh-so-uncomfortable hospital armchairs, heads leaning against each other as makeshift pillows.

Hayner, however, was jerked back to consciousness when he felt a familiar vibration in the side pocket of his cargos. He sighed, pulled his cell phone out, and saw that he had missed a call. After viewing the call, he flipped the phone shut. His jaw dropped when he read the illuminated digits.

10:33

Yes, on a school night, no less.

He carefully rose from the chair, trying not to wake Olette up. He stood and immediately regretted falling asleep. His neck screamed with pain, and his back wasn't feeling _any_ better.

He almost left, but saw Olette shiver in her chair and pull her knees up to her chest for warmth. Hayner looked around the room and saw a fuzzy green blanket draped over the footboard of Amy's bed. He took it and laid it gently over her, making sure she didn't wake.

He was almost to the door when he heard a quiet sigh and was instantly angry at himself for waking Olette up.

But Olette pulled the blanket to her chin and shifted her body, still obviously asleep.

"Hello."

Olette wasn't awake, _Amy_ was.

"Hi." He felt awkward, standing at the foot of this sickly little girl's bed, not belonging.

"You're Hayner, right?" Her voice was very hushed.

"Yeah."

She smiled. "Olette talks about you all the time." Hayner's hazel eyes widened in shock. "Yup," she continued cheerily, completely oblivious to his reaction, "I think she likes you a lot…"

They both turned and saw Olette snuggling deeper into sleep.

"Really?" Hayner asked incredulously.

"Yup! When she would go over to your house, she would always come home and tell me all the jokes you told her. She thinks you're _so_ funny," she said with a cough.

Hayner couldn't help it; a grin slipped onto his face.

"Hm…" he was absolutely _speechless_. "Well, feel better, okay?"

Amy smiled. "Yup, yup!"

Hayner waved and left the (not so) dreary hospital room positively _beaming_.

It was going to take a good half hour to wipe _that_ grin off his face.

----------------

**author's notes: I hope this isn't too much of a filler. I feel like it's a filler… and it's kinda short… boo. Well, everybody was pressuring me to update so HA! I DID! AREN'T YOU PROUD!?!**

**-crickets chirping-**

**Okayyy… well, one more chapter to go-- please review!!**

**Oh, side note- I haven't taken a chemistry class in two years. So I didn't add any INTENSE details to the test part… **

**(standard disclaimer applies, yo!)**


	9. finale

**author's notes: So. Last chapter. I'm a little sad. But I'll write another Twilight Town fic; I promise! Thanks to all those who've stuck with me and continued reading and reviewing. I love you guys!**

**standard disclaimer applies—**

--------------

His fingers tap-tap-tapped on his desk impatiently, and he leaned back with a great, loud sigh.

His chemistry teacher was slowly walking between the aisles of desks, flipping students' tests upside-down on their desks. Hayner saw her glasses slowly slipping down the bridge of her nose. That bothered him.

He didn't want his test back. He just _didn't_.

Hayner knew that it was going to be horrendous; for Christ's sake, he was zoning out through the majority of it!

His professor flung his test in front of him. Hayner swallowed.

He didn't want to turn it over. He just _didn't_.

He could already see huge red words printed on the front of the test through the stack of white papers. Probably a 'see me after class' kind of thing.

Olette was going to be so upset with him; he knew it. Hayner could just _see_ her face dropping in disappointment when she asked him how he did. He could hear her defeated voice whispering, "Well, we'll try harder next time, okay?"

He did _not_ want to look at the bold, red letter grade by his name.

Because bold and red was _never_ good.

It was only about two minutes until the end of school. Hayner wiped his clammy hands on his cargo pants and took a deep breath.

Now or never.

He held his breath dramatically and flipped his test over, anticipating a D, at best. His eyes widened at the score. He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't. But the bold red marker couldn't lie.

It wasn't a 'See me after class.'

It was a 'Great Job!'

Maybe it wasn't _his_ test, he thought quickly. Hayner's eyes flicked to the top right-hand corner of the page, checking the test's ownership. And sure enough, 'Hayner Michaels' was scrawled in tiny writing at the top.

It was his.

And he got a _94_.

The bell rang loudly, and Hayner nearly jumped out of his seat. He absolutely _had_ to show Olette. Whipping his backpack over his shoulder, childish grin adorning his face, he sprinted through the mass of students rushing to their lockers.

He clutched his test in his hand as he ran, and although he felt the paper crumpling under his intense grasp, he didn't care.

Hayner's sneakers skidded as he slid to Olette's locker. But she wasn't there.

Where was she?

She had been in history class with him during second hour. She _had_. Hayner wasn't going crazy now, was he?

Maybe she had gone to the hospital again.

Determined to see her, Hayner threw open the exit doors and raced across the grass lawn of the school's campus, ignoring the shocked faces of his fellow classmates. He couldn't blame them, though. Hayner was acting like a madman.

The air burned his eyes as he ran faster and faster to the hospital, refusing to slow down. His feet stomped against the cement of the sidewalk, and Hayner couldn't help but think that he must be getting in shape after all this running; he was getting a lot faster.

Lungs screaming, Hayner strode into the stark hospital with a confident smile. He waved at the receptionist cheerfully as he practically danced into the elevators. Yes, he knew his way around and yes, the receptionist recognized him.

He pounded his index finger into the shiny silver '4' button repeatedly, refusing to believe that it wasn't going to go any faster no matter how many times he pressed it.

He got a 94. He got a 94. _He got a 94!_

The elevator doors slowly opened and Hayner bounded out, almost plowing into an elderly nurse as he did so.

"Olette!" he cried as he made his way to room 473. "Olette, you'll never believe it, I got a-"

But his sentence was cut short by his shock of what was in room 473.

Olette wasn't there, neither was her mom.

Neither was _Amy_.

The hospital bed looked clean, starched sheets folded tightly and perfectly. The pillow was propped up against the headboard, and there were no monitors anymore.

It was clean and white and _absolutely frightening._

The only evidence that there had been a frail girl in that horrifying room _at all_ was the small stack of get-well cards piled neatly at the corner of the nightstand.

Hayner felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.

And then he remembered- Olette had been called out their third hour class and into the office. The office ladies probably were the ones who had told Olette the terrible news, he told himself.

The news that Amy had _died_.

Hayner tried to calm himself down, but it was no use. Despite the fact that there had always been a chance that the surgery wouldn't go as perfectly as planned, that Amy would die, Hayner was still shocked.

He sat on the hospital bed and heard the sheets crunch underneath his weight. He released his test, and watched it glide across the smooth floor.

He couldn't believe it.

Olette must be devastated, he told himself.

In trembling hands, he shuffled through the get-well cards, trying to choke down the massive lump in his throat. There was one from Seifer's family, it looked like. One from Pence and his dad. One… from his mom.

Maybe she wasn't as heartless as he thought.

"Just coming back for the cards," he heard a soft female voice and its accompanying footsteps echoing through the hallway.

Seconds later, Olette walked into the room, hair dangling into her eyes. She glanced up and looked genuinely surprised at Hayner's presence.

"H-Hayn-"

"Olette, I'm so sorry," he cut her off as he jumped up from the bed. "I thought… I thought it was going to be okay… I thought everything was going to get bet-"

"Sorry for what?" she interrogated with her hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. Hayner thought she'd have been a little more… _upset_?

"For your… sister?" said Hayner hesitantly, voice rising in pitch as if it were a question.

"Amy?" Yes, Amy. Shouldn't she be a little bit more serious?

Hayner remained silent.

"Why would you feel sorry? If anything you should be glad; she was just moved to a different room. Not an intensive care one like this." Olette smiled.

Hayner's breath stopped right in his throat. Amy was… alive?

"B-but why did you get called out of class earlier today?" he stammered.

"So I could come and help Amy move to her other room. She doesn't really like all the doctors and nurses surrounding her…" her voice trailed off.

"That's… great. So she's gonna get better?" he asked.

"Yup!" Olette broke out into a grin, white teeth sparkling and green eyes glistening. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Hayner shook his head. Amy wasn't dead, Olette wasn't devastated, and his chemistry test was lying face-up on the ground. With his index finger, Hayner pointed to it.

Olette walked to it and bent down to pick it up. She held it in front of her face, concealing her expression from him. When she lowered the paper, she was nearly speechless.

Her eyes were glowing with excitement, and her grin was even wider than before. She looked absolutely _ecstatic_.

"A… a 94?" she choked out. Hayner nodded, smiling. "Hayner… I… I…"

He walked a little closer to her, head cocked to the side.

"I'm so _proud_ of you!" she exclaimed as she threw herself into his chest in a giant hug. He was thrown back a bit, but wrapped his arms around her anyway and chuckled. "See, I knew you could do it; I just _knew_ it!" she yelled as she squeezed him tighter.

Hayner hugged her back.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Olette, I really couldn't have…" he mumbled into her chestnut locks.

He pulled away from their embrace and stared down into her emerald orbs with a grin. She smiled back at him and held both of his hands within hers. She was positively radiating.

Hayner hadn't noticed how close they were until he felt her warm breath against his face. It smelled like peppermint. Hayner's head bowed down closer to hers, savoring the moment. She slowly stood higher on her tiptoes, slowly, slowly, gently, gently.

Their lips met softly, and Hayner pulled Olette closer to him, drawing her into the tender, warm kiss. He could feel her smiling.

When their lips broke apart, they couldn't help it-

They both started _laughing_.

A few weeks ago, they had practically hated each other, and here they were, not wanting to leave the other's presence.

"Hey, Olette?" Hayner whispered gently into her ear with chuckle.

"Hm?" she mumbled into his chest.

"Let's go get something to celebrate. Just the two of us."

"That sounds… wonderful," she said as she intertwined her fingers with his, giving them a firm squeeze,

"Sea salt ice cream?" he asked with a laugh.

"Of course."

---------------

_FIN_

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**author's notes: Hurray for wonderfully predictable fluff clawing your eyes out! I hope everybody liked this, I really do. I loved writing this story so much, and I was encouraged by all your reviews. I can't thank you all enough!**

**Please review with your final thoughts!**


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